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Third anniversary of earthquakes in Nepal

The 25th April and the 12th May marks three years since the twin earthquakes in Nepal, which killed approximately 9,000 people, injured around 22,000 people and demolished around 600,000 structures in 2015.

Striking near Kathmandu in central Nepal, the earthquakes are also known as the Ghorka earthquakes (named after the district which was the epicentre of the earthquakes).

Of the 600,000 structures which were destroyed, 7,000 were schools and 3,000 government buildings. Dozens of Kathmandu’s heritage buildings were also destroyed, including the iconic Dharahara tower.

Also called the Bhimsen tower, it was a nine storey tower which stood at 61.88 meters high at the centre of Sundhara in Khatmandu. Built in 1832, it was a major tourist attraction which was open to the public from 2005 until its collapse. Work is underway to rebuild this iconic building.

The extent of the damage caused was around ten billion USD, which is about 50% of Nepal’s nominal GDP. Not to mention the devastation to human life and the impact this has had as their lives have changed forever.

At the second anniversary in 2017, it was estimated that almost 70% of the affected were still living in temporary shelters as the country was still struggling to bounce back. Debris can still be found lying around the country, even in the capital Kathmandu.

The majority of our friends, family and colleagues in Nepal were very fortunate, but a few were not and lives were lost.

The scale of the disaster is almost beyond comprehension. You will all have seen the awful and very harrowing pictures on the news from Kathmandu and some of the villages outside of the Kathmandu valley. The human suffering just seems to go on and on.

We started a fund back in 2015 that is run directly from our knitting base in Kathmandu and has been directly helping our knitters and tailors together with their families and communities. We used the fund to distribute food and clothing to our knitters and also help sort out vital shelter and building materials.

Thank you for all of the orders from customers, partners, friends and family around the world over the past few years. We were able to help build new workshops in the past which were built strongly enough to survive this terrible disaster. Some of the staff were inside the new workshops when the first earthquake hit and were able to get out and to safety.

RETAIL EVENTS 2017/18

If you are making a special trip to see us please contact us to double check we will be there as very occasionally we can't attend. Updates on facebook and twitter.

Harrogate Christmas Market, York

15th - 18th November 2018

St Nicholas Christmas Market, York

Dates to be confirmed for 2018

Lincoln Christmas Market

6th - 9th December 2018

Durham Traditional Christmas Festival

30th Nov - 2nd December 2018

WHOLESALE EVENTS

Glasgow Spring Fair, Glasgow

21 - 23 January 2018

Harrogate Home & Gift Fair

15 - 18 July 2018

Autumn Fair, NEC Birmingham

2 - 5 September 2018

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Not forgetting - York Shambles market on Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and from August 2017 Sundays. If you are making a special trip to see us, please telephone us on 01377 217777 to double check that we will be there as very occasionally we're not!

Hope to see you at one of these events!

Fresh news from Nepal!

An e-mail reply from our thoughts and blessings sent to Nepal for 25th April 2017

Namaste !
Thank you so much.
We all are scaring a bit for today's day .
Here everybody are scaring and remembering for this black day . All the Facebook wall is full of today's pictures.
Yesterday evening went a small earthquake 4.2 scale so people ware thinking a bit more about it.
Anyway everything is good here now .
Thanks and best regards
Krishna

Nepal (2015)

The majority of our friends, family and colleagues in Nepal were very fortunate but a few were not and lives were lost.

The scale of the disaster is almost beyond comprehension. You will all have seen the awful and very harrowing pictures on the news from Kathmandu and now, at last, some of the villages outside of the Kathmandu valley. The human suffering just seems to go on and on.

Thanks to all the orders from customers, partners, friends and family around the world over the past few years we have been able to build new workshops and these were built strongly enough to survive this terrible disaster. Some of the staff were inside the new workshops when the first earthquake hit and were able to get out and to safety. Since then there have been many, many big aftershocks and at the moment it is not safe for anybody to go back inside buildings, so everybody is sheltering as best as they can outside. The aftershocks are still going on with at least two or three strong shocks every day.

A huge number of buildings in Kathmandu and Nepal have been destroyed and thousands of lives have been lost. In the villages outside of Kathmandu it looks like the disaster might be even worse than in the city. In the main village that our knitters and tailors come from there is now not one house left standing. The entire village has been destroyed. There is nothing left.

The Nepalese government and forces together with all the foreign aid agencies are doing as much as they can in the immediate emergency after the earthquake but this is not enough. Nepal has very little in the way of infrastructure and established services and this unfortunately means that recovery is going to be long, slow and very difficult. People need to rebuild their lives, their houses and their communities and they cannot wait for aid money to possibly trickle down to them in the future.

After talking to our friends and family in Nepal we think that the best way that we can help is to give aid and help directly to our knitters and tailors, who have lost everything, so that they themselves can rebuild their smashed houses and villages. This is what they have asked for and they need to be fed and clothed and to be able to start rebuilding now. This will in turn reach out to other communities and a new future starts to grow.

We have started a fund that will be run directly from our knitting base in Kathmandu and will directly help our knitters and tailors together with their families and communities. We have already started to distribute food and clothing to our knitters and we are also urgently trying to sort out shelter and building materials. In the next few days we will update you, but we ask and pray that you can help us raise some money now rather than waiting for aid money that might never get to those who need it. Everything will be open so everyone can see where the money is going and everything will be fully documented. We will take lots of videos and pictures so that you can see where your money is going and see the lives that you are helping to rebuild.

Donations can be made direct to our new Earthquake Fund account at Barclays.

Sort Code:- 20-98-98

Account Number:- 83567265

Donations can be made by bank transfer or over the counter at any Barclays Bank.

Please also drop us a quick email if you want to be kept up to date with what is happening in Nepal and what your donation is achieving.

Thank you from everybody at Black Yak in Nepal and here in the UK.

Update 11th August... an excerpt from an e-mail received from Nepal in reply to asking about more news of a greater earthquake....

Dear Dai Namaste ! We all are fine.Yes it is true that just a few days ago BBC news said that British scientists said there will be big earthquake coming in west side of Nepal and India. Also after that our some news paper Said same so we all are scared a bit. All the people in Nepal are talking about it. We are very confuse that what to do. Almost everyday is coming after shock. Just list night came 2 shock . Middle of night 4.2 and early in the morning 4.9 Also yesterday , day before yesterday was coming . I think it is good to come small many shock because there will be less chance to come bigger. Write you soon Thanks Bhai

Update 24th July… Money raised is now over £6,000 for our Earthquake appeal. Many thanks to everyone who are still contributing, we hope to have more pictures next week.

Update 3rd July...The monsoons have started and it is raining almost everyday. Children are beginning to return to school. Earthquakes are still occurring and we are still distributing aid.

It is quite outstanding the amount of aftershocks that are still occurring everyday as we hear little or nothing in the UK news. The application 'Last Quake' or search for 'latest earthquake in Nepal' will give you more details.

Update 24th June...Our 'Relief program' has been featured in the local newspaper in Kathmandu.

Update 9th June...A few more photos have been place on Facebook showing life in Nepal before the monsoon rain begins.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us and commented on the progress we are making. The Earthquake Fund will definitely be kept open and every penny makes a difference to these people's lives in Nepal.

There are many photos on facebook showing the distribution of food and other basic provisions such as sleeping mats, blankets, towels, etc to all associated with Black Yak and their families. There are not only knitters but many other people that do many other jobs such as machining, tailoring, ironing, sewing on labels, packing, etc. Without all these people we would not be able to offer all the beautiful products that we sell.

Update 29th May....Huge thanks to all for their very generous contributions. The fund now stands at £5,029. Your kind wishes are passed on each day.

A thought when we complain about our weather. Since the first earthquake in Nepal 3,000 earthquakes measuring under 4 on the Richter scale have occured, these cumulatively damage buildings. 300 earthquakes have occured between 4 and 5 on the Richter scale, these are strong enough to do direct damage to buildings. Many of our friends are now living under plastic and corrugated iron sheets.

Today in Kathmandu the temperature is 38 degrees C. On Monday it is expected to reach 41 degrees C with lightening.

Update Friday 15th May...The latest news from Nepal is not good news. Following the latest big quake we are devastated to say that it has been confirmed that three of our knitters have lost their lives. We are still waiting for news about their families.

We have still to make contact with several more of our knitters.

Strong aftershocks continue but they now seem to be lessening a little. The second big quake has been particularly cruel as people were just starting to move back into what remained of their homes. Everybody is now back outside under whatever cover they can find and even the strongest and bravest are saying that they are terrified to return inside the buildings in case there are more quakes.

The spirit of our Nepalese friends and family is quite astonishing. Even amongst all the death and destruction they are determined to rebuild their homes and their lives. Some of our knitters are back at work and are asking for more work. It is the sad fact that in Nepal there is no state safety net and no work means no money. We have been distributing food and clothing to our knitters and tailors and their families and the immediate need for this type of aid seems to be reducing a little bit. People now are just desperate to start rebuilding their lives, homes and country.

It is now only a few short weeks before the monsoon rains will start in earnest and what are now cold and miserable living conditions will rapidly turn into intolerable mud. It is essential that we get people back under cover as fast as we can and this is what we shall be concentrating hard on during the next few weeks. It is very difficult to know what buildings we have left and what condition they are in until the aftershocks stop and inspections can be safely made. We do know that several of the newer buildings that were homes for our extended family in Nepal are now beyond repair and ‘the metal is outside the concrete’. No matter how one translates that it does not sound good.

Thank you so much to all those of you who have been so generous and have donated to our Nepal Earthquake Fund. Every single penny is getting to those who need it and will continue to do so. Once the immediate emergency is over the hard and expensive work will really start and we have to help desperate people rebuild their lives.

On a personal note, those who know me will know that I am not known for demonstrations of emotion but I am not ashamed to say that the staggering generosity shown over the past two weeks has reduced me to tears on more than one occasion.

Update Friday 8th May…we have been totally overwhelmed by the generosity of your donations. A staggering sum of £4,350.00 has been raised so far since Tuesday. Thank you so much for all your donations, every single penny is needed.

If you are making a special trip to see us please contact us to double check we will be there as very occasionally we can't attend. Attendance updates on facebook and twitter.